Chapter 240
by Golden DragonChapter 240: The Solution To Rebellion
The Small Woods.
“This is your contribution to the organization? Half a brick?”
The new contact glared at Isaac.
Since he knew Isaac but not Jim, he directed the blame that should have fallen on Jim at Isaac instead. Such was the way of modern social anxiety.
“Because of a damn brick, we lost a valuable member. You have to find a way to get her back.”
“We were outplayed. That woman’s mastery over her ability is terrifying.”
Isaac emotionlessly shook the bag in his hand—the stone inside had somehow turned into half an ordinary brick. The switch must have happened the moment the bag left his grip.
With a light pinch, the bag and its brick contents silently disintegrated into dust.
But he still had a backup plan.
His ability allowed him to turn any object he touched into a bomb, detonating it no matter how far away it was afterward.
He had touched that stone earlier…
After some thought, he decided to shelve the idea for now.
He wasn’t sure what that thing even was. Detonating it recklessly might be dangerous.
But the people involved in that shady ability-drug lab had to be dealt with. Anyone sneaking around researching that kind of thing was obviously up to no good.
Just because he dealt in ability-enhancing drugs himself didn’t mean he wanted another manufacturer popping up.
“I said you have to rescue our comrade!” the contact repeated.
“Mhm. So, any leads on that suspicious lab?”
A blatant subject change.
If they wasted massive effort rescuing every single member, Righteous Retribution would never amount to anything—especially when this particular comrade was neither high-ranking nor particularly important.
“No…”
“Then forget it. Jim, from now on, keep an eye out for that lab at school. As a ‘cadre,’ you shouldn’t need me to—”
Before he could finish, Jim suddenly grabbed his arm in a death grip.
“Bro… is that a ghost over there…?”
Jim’s voice was hushed. Though it didn’t tremble, the fear in his tone was unmistakable.
The word “ghost” itself wasn’t special. But outside of jokes, hearing or seeing it uttered seriously sent an inexplicable chill down the spine.
Even mentally prepared by Jim’s warning, Isaac nearly lost his composure when he looked.
A woman in a prison uniform stood silently among the trees, facing them.
Why say “facing” and not “looking at”?
Because everything from the bridge of her nose upward was tightly wrapped in bandages, leaving no gap for sight.
She stood motionless in the bushes, unmoving—who knew how long she’d been there? That was the truly terrifying part, realizing someone had been “watching” you for who knows how long.
By comparison, the elderly man’s head cradled in her hands was just an extra layer of horror.
“Did you just say… suspicious lab?” the woman spoke.
—
Elsewhere.
“Excessive sleepiness is a late-stage symptom of Dark Element corruption. By this phase, most other discomforts have faded. But like unstable vital signs, every time the patient falls asleep, you can’t be sure they’ll wake up again.”
In other words, they were living on borrowed time.
“Normally, even with constant ability use, it takes about a year to reach this stage. Your friend might be special.”
“And the suppressants don’t work?”
“Those only target early symptoms. You should really ask a doctor—I’m just a regular instructor.”
“Mm.”
Yiwen held the phone silently for a long moment, sitting on a roadside bench as she gently stroked Mi Xiaoliu’s hair, her heart aching.
The steady breathing confirmed her vitals were still there—but they could stop at any moment.
Facing the fear of death at just thirteen years old… No wonder she’d been so irritable lately.
Poor Mi Xiaoliu.
“I wouldn’t recommend trying to slow her time to extend her lifespan. That ability of yours is dangerous.”
“I know.”
The rat she’d accidentally slowed down that day still hadn’t returned to normal speed. She had no idea how to undo it—short of brewing a whole new potion just for it.
That’s what she said, but she had been considering using her half-mastered ability on Xiaoliu just now.
What if Mi Xiaoliu stopped breathing in the next second…?
“Oh, and one more thing—the criminals your father personally arrested escaped this morning. I doubt they’ll cause trouble in their current state, but you and your family should still be careful.”
“Huh?”
“Check the group chat. Don’t you ever read the work messages?”
“If it weren’t a work group, I’d have left that @everyone spamfest ages ago…”
She skimmed through the chat history.
The Albatross and The Hanged Woman.
What the hell? They’d been locked up before she was even born.
This Albatross guy… Level 5 Esper?!
“An ability user of this level should’ve been sealed in a containment mold after being imprisoned, right? After so many years, their muscles must’ve atrophied. How did they still have the strength to escape? Isn’t Arkham Prison supposed to be the most secure in the world?”
“Well, it’s mainly because Tian Xing Dao showed up to hand them an opportunity… The Hanged Woman wasn’t sealed in a mold because she’s blind.”
“Blind?”
“Mhm. Her ability originates from her eyes, so her eyes were included in the sentencing terms to ensure she couldn’t use her powers. That’s why she was allowed to move freely, unlike other criminals of her level who are locked in molds.”
It was an inhumane verdict—one that backfired spectacularly when a blind woman still managed to escape, even crafting a key without the guards noticing.
After memorizing their general descriptions, Yiwen put her phone away and continued petting Mi Xiaoliu, still agonizing over whether to slow her time.
In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Experiencing slowed time alone was its own kind of torment.
Yiwen kept stroking Mi Xiaoliu’s hair until Okulet arrived in the same broken-down car that had stalled in Sunshine City last time. Thankfully, nothing unexpected happened in the meantime.
Like before, the two rode in her father-in-law’s car—though this time, Yiwen had to sit alone in the back.
“Uncle, your family’s loaded. Why do you insist on driving this piece of junk? Even if it’s for nostalgia’s sake, you could just put it on display at home.”
Also, the AC smelled weird.
“Back when I occasionally came home, I used to pick Gloria up from school in this car,” Okulet replied.
Regardless of age gaps or status, a man driving a luxury car to pick up a girl from school didn’t trigger some romantic fantasy—it just invited gossip behind his back.
With how rampant social media is these days, some busybody might even film it and roast him online.
Perhaps too sensitive to the name Gloria, Mi Xiaoliu in the passenger seat drowsily woke up, rubbing her eyes before turning to look at Okulet.
Then she tried to open the car door to get out but couldn’t figure out how—this car still had manual crank windows.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?” Okulet reached out to touch her.
Slap slap slap! A flurry of kitten punches rained down, though they were too weak to hurt.
(His hand had gotten too close to her forehead.)
Okulet withdrew his hand awkwardly. “Why did you take off the pendant? Dad was really worried.”
He held out the pendant to her.
Mi Xiaoliu didn’t answer. She didn’t take it either, instead turning back to study the car door, leaving Okulet with nothing but a view of her twin-tails.
Okulet: 💔
Gloria had started rebelling around this age too.
The separation of the Star had been a success—Mi Xiaoliu had split the glowing meteorite into “ore” and “energy.” That was how Heli had managed to extract samples from the otherwise indestructible material.
As for the energy, Heli had no idea how to preserve it. Frankly, she hadn’t expected the separation to take this form at all.
To be safe, she’d repeatedly warned Mi Xiaoliu never to remove the energy, since no one could predict what might happen if it existed independently in the real world.
But it seemed the girl hadn’t listened. Who knew if it was the Star’s influence on her emotions?
“Uncle, do you know these two? They apparently escaped prison…”
Yiwen passed her phone to the front seat.
Okulet frowned deeply at the photo of the old man.
The ride home was uneventful—just a minor incident involving a corpse in the trunk of the car ahead. Soon, they arrived safely at Heli’s place.
“Running away from home?” Heli pinched Mi Xiaoliu’s cheeks. She wouldn’t admit it, but she was relieved to see her back.
Mi Xiaoliu just stared at her silently.
Heli took a cotton swab and pressed it against Mi Xiaoliu’s closed lips. “Open your mouth.”
Mi Xiaoliu bit the swab.
She didn’t like things poking her mouth.
Heli tugged the swab, dragging Mi Xiaoliu’s head along with it.
She shook the swab left and right, making Mi Xiaoliu’s head wobble like a bobblehead.
Frowning, Heli raised a finger, aiming for a flick to the forehead—
Only to be met with another barrage of kitten punches.
Even Okulet was stunned.
Now it was absolutely confirmed—his worries hadn’t been misplaced. His once-obedient little girl had indeed entered a rebellious phase overnight.
Heli’s face remained blank as she pulled Mi Xiaoliu over and bent her across her lap.
Whack! Whack!
Then she sat her back up.
“Open your mouth.”
Mi Xiaoliu obediently opened up.
Saliva and urine tests showed no abnormalities. The only possible way to detect anything now was through an eye examination.
But the equipment wasn’t precise enough, and the lab was already relocating after being exposed. She couldn’t exactly dissect Mi Xiaoliu’s eyeballs and rely on her regeneration—she wasn’t a monster.
“Has the Lasvedo family ever recorded cases where two substances coexisted or alternated in records before?” Heli asked Okulet.
“No. Maybe the Blue Flame is special?”
“Hmm…”
Heli fell silent for a long moment.
“Have you picked a location?”
“Yes.”
Okulet pulled out a new world map, pointing to a stretch of ocean.
Low altitude, no nearby land, and rarely traversed by ships. Dropping an island here would be hard to detect for a while.
“Prepare a boat. We leave this afternoon to retrieve the equipment,” Heli decided.
Okulet’s eyes flickered slightly—he almost blurted out, “I have a yacht.”
Then he remembered he didn’t anymore.
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